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Irisarri, Fernandez Each Record Homers in Sharks Win

The Nova Southeastern Sharks have advanced to the championship round of the NCAA South Region Tournament following a 9-3 victory over Tampa on Friday evening from the UT Baseball Field. Carlos Rey was dominant on the mound, throwing 6.2 innings, striking out seven and earning his sixth win of the season. Adan Fernandez sparked a four-run bottom of the fourth inning with a lead-off home run.  

INSIDE THE MATCHUP 

RECORDS: Nova Southeastern 36-15, Tampa 41-11 

SCORE: Nova Southeastern 9, Tampa 3 

LOCATION: Tampa, Fla. | UT Baseball Field 

GET SOCIAL: Instagram & Twitter – NSU_Baseball 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

BOTTOM 3RD: Nova Southeastern broke through and got on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly from Adam Frank to give NSU a 1-0 lead.  

TOP 4th: Tampa responded with a two-run home run, taking a 2-1 lead, but Carlos Rey settled back in and struck out the next two Spartans he faced.  

BOTTOM 4TH: Adan Fernandez blasted his second home run in as many days at the NCAA Tournament on the first pitch of the bottom half of the inning, tying the score at 2-2. Daniel Irisarri followed with a bunt single and later scored on a Tampa fielding error to give NSU a 3-2 advantage. Frank dropped in a two-run single, putting the Sharks in front 5-2 and with full momentum. 

TOP 5TH: Rey maintained the momentum for the Sharks, setting the Spartans down in order and ended the inning with an emphatic strikeout.  

BOTTOM 5TH: Fernandez led off the frame with a double down the left-field line and came across to score on a two-run home run from Irisarri that was driven to the opposite field, giving the Sharks a 7-2 lead.  

6TH INNING: Both clubs traded runs in the sixth, as Nova Southeastern hung on to an 8-3 lead over the Spartans.  

TOP 7TH: Matt Kavanaugh entered in relief of Rey with two outs in the seventh inning. Kavanaugh inherited runners on second and third but struck out the first batter he faced to escape the jam. 

BOTTOM 7TH: Irisarri led off the inning with a single and promptly stole second base to move into scoring position. Michael Avendano moved Irisarri to third with a fly out, which forced to Tampa to intentionally walk Nik Sanders – who had just entered as a pinch hitter – to put runners on the corners. Alex Hernandez lined a single to left field, scoring Irisarri and gave NSU a 9-3 advantage. 

TOP 9TH: Kavanaugh pitched the final 2.1 innings, and sealed the win with a double play. 

UPCOMING 

Nova Southeastern now will play the winner of Tampa and Valdosta State in the first game of the NCAA South Region Tournament Championship on Saturday, May 21. If Nova Southeastern wins, the Sharks will advance to the NCAA Super Regional Tournament.  

Original source can be found here.